Combined tooth brush and masseur



I June 6, 1939. R. B. DAVIDS 2,160,836

COMBINED TOOTH BRUSH AND MASSEUR Original Filed July 3, 1936 INVENTOR ROBERT E. DAVID-i ATTORNEY Patented June 6, 1939 PATENT OFFICE COMBINED TOOTH BRUSH AND MASSEUR Robert B. Davids,

Baltimore, Md.

Original application July 3, 1936, Serial No. 88,713. Divided and this application April 13,

1939, Serial No. 267,557

'2 Claims.

This invention relates in general to improvements in a combined tooth brush and gum masseur and more particularly to improvements in tooth brushes of the type involving a movement causing the bristles of the tooth brush to strike the teeth in an up and down movement. This application is a division of my co -pending application Serial No. 88,713, filed July 3, 1936, for Combined tooth brush and masseur.

Objects of the invention are the provision of a brush of the character set forth which is readily and easily manipulated to reach both the inner and outer surfaces of the teeth and also the crevices between the same in both the front and back of the mouth; the provision in such a brush of features whereby the. up and down movement of the bristles firmly but gently applies the ends of the bristles to the surface of the teeth in such manner that injury to the teeth or gums or flesh on the inside of the mouth is avoided; the provision of mechanism of such character that-is simple in construction and operation and capable of easy manufacture at relatively small cost; the provision of a bristle construction embodying spaced transverse. disks of bristles and longitudinally extending cups of bristles at one end of the transverse disks in a manner involving a simple manufacturing process, whereby the cleaning and massaging action is essentially a scrubbing action rather than a sweeping or wiping action on the teeth and gums; and the invention has for further objects such other improvements of advantages in construction and operation as may be found to obtain in the structures and devices hereinafter described or claimed. I I

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification and showing, for purposes of exemplification, a preferred form and manner in which the invention may be embodied and practiced, but without limiting the claimed invention specifically to such illustrative instance or instances: v V

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in vertical cross-section, of a tooth brush constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a detailed longitudinal sectional view taken through the bristles of Fig. 1, illustrating the construction of the bristle portion of the brush Figure 3 is a detailed view similar to Fig. 2 but of an alternative form of brush bristle construction. 7

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a tubular casing I open at its forward end II and provided at its rear opposite end with a crutch-shaped butt I2 as a handle. The crutchshaped handle I2 is curved as shown so as to fit easily within the inside shank of the thumb with the major portion of the surface I3 against the palm of the hand. A shaft I4 is rotatably secured in the casing III at its forward end'by a screw-threaded cap I5 threaded on external 7 threads at the extreme forward end of the cas- 10 ing I0. The shaft I4 is supported for free rotation within the casing II] by a rotatable bearing I6 disposed around a reduced portion of, and freely encircling the shaft I4 and bearing against the end edge ll of the casing I 0 and a beveled surface on the inside of the cap I5. The forward end of the shaft I4 is reamed to provide a socket I8 and the wall of the socket is. slit at several points to provide a spring chuck I9 for removably holding a stem carrying the bristles 2| of the brush. A rear portion of, the shaft I4 extends partway inside the casing as shown at and is provided with a cam pin 26 just short of the rear end of the portion 25. The casing is provided with two oppositely dis 25 posed slots 22 extending from a point 23 beyond the handle I2 to the forward end of the casing.

A sleeve 24 is surmounted in encircling relation on the shaft portion 25 so as tobe freely reciprocated inside the casing ID on the cam-follower pin 26 of the shaft I4. The sleeve 24 is provided with a serpentine slot 21 for co-operation with the pin 26, there being eight cam surfaces provided within the serpentine. The sleeve 24 is also provided at its rear end with two oppositely disposed connecting guides 28 extending through the slots 22 and each terminating in a trigger 29 wide enough to extend beyond the side edges of the slots 22 to protect the fingers of the operator so that when the trigger is re- 40 tracted toward the crutch-shaped handle I2, the serpentine slot causes the pin 26 and shaft I4 to oscillate eight times, four in one direction and four in the opposite direction. Within the easing I0 between the rear end thereof and the.45 rear end of the sleeve 24 a spring 3| is interposed to normally propel the sleeve 24 away from the crutch-shaped handle I2 toward the forward end of the casing I0, causing a like oscillation eight times.

In operation, the person using the brush grasps the crutch-shaped handle I2 with the shank of the thumb against the surface I3, and with the index and next finger extended alongside of the casing I 0 and the thumb on the toppositelside sz of the casing so that the surface 13 is freely resting on the palm of the hand. The bristle portion is then placed inside the mouth alongside the teeth or gums with the row of bristles transversely to the teeth. Upon retraction of the ends of the index and next finger on the triggers 29, the sleeve 24 is drawn toward the crutch-shaped handle and then the pressure of the fingers released, causing the sleeve 24 to be retracted against the spring 3| and then propelled forwardly by the latter. movement of the sleeve 24 is limited by a bushing 3| fixed by pin 32 to the shaft l4. At eacn movement in each direction the bristles 2| partake of eight oscillations. Consequently upon each retraction of the finger tips and release of the pressure thereof on the trigger finger pieces.

29 the bristles 2| partake of sixteen oscillations causing sixteen up and down scrubbing contacts of the ends of the bristles with the teeth'or gums. The action is as rapid as the user manipulates thetriggers but the pressure on the teeth or gums is only that of the bristles. Normally bristles 2| tend to bend so that with rapid oscillation only the sides of the bristles would make contact with the teeth or gums affording only a sweeping or wiping action rather than a scrubbing action. To this end,.to retain the advantages of the oscillatory action, it is essential that the bristles 2| be mounted so as always to present the ends rather than the sides of the bristles to the teeth or gums. Advantageously the stem is therefore built up of a metallic pin core 33 surrounded or encased by plastic material 34, like Pyralin, Celluloid or the like, at its opposite ends. The rear end is tapered to provide a head 35 for removable insertion in the spring chuck I9. Between the forward and rear ends of plastic material 34 a series of rings or disks 36 of bristles are mounted encompassing the pin 33, each ring or disk of bristles being held together by linen thread or fine wire 31. The bristles of each disk are made to flare towards those of a next adjacent disk until their ends meet, as shown in Fig. 2, by pressing plastic collars 38 between the disks until the material of the collars 33 spread laterally a sufiicient amount against the portions of the bristles adjacent the wire or thread 3'! as to cause the ends of adjacent bristles to meet. The disks are preferably of widest diameter at the center of the series than those toward the two opposite ends so as to provide bristles tapering down in both directions from the center of the series. In the alternative form illustrated in Fig. 3 the pin 33 is a square shaft to avoid turning of the plastic material and disks. The collars are made concave as illustrated at 39 to prevent flaring as in the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2. The end transverse disk is slightly curved forwardly by its collar. From three to five disks are sufficient for most purposes. In order to provide bristles capable of reaching regions andcrevices not accessible to the row of transverse disks of bristles, a cup of bristles 4| is provided on the end of the stem. As will be seen from Figs. 2 and 3, the same sort of disk is similarly sleeved on the pin 33 at the end thereof but the collar 42 between the same and the next disk is channeled as at 43 so as to hold the disk of bristles down in a direction longitudinally of the pin instead of transversely. An inner head of plastic material 34 is then pressed on the end of the pin by pressure, or pressure with the aid of heat, so as to hold the bristles of the end disk The forward tine should be approximately 45.

as shown. At the rear. of the casing l0 slots 44 are also provided in the region of the spring 3| to facilitate the sterilization.

With the brush bristle elements described, trigger fingers 29 and crutch-shaped handle l2, the user may readily alter the position and location of the bristles inthe mouth, while oscillating the bristles, merely by allowing the crutch-shaped handle to slide over the palm of the hand at will while still retaining a firm hold on the casing H1 and without removing the bristles from the mouth.

The brush is readily and easily dismantled and reassembled by the user in sterilizing and cleaning the same. The cap I5 is unscrewed from the casing Ill and the shaft I4 withdrawn. In so doing the bearing l6, bushing 3| and sleeve 24 are removed from the casing II) by the mere removal of the shaft M. The spring 3| is then removed by tipping the casing ID. The casing is easily reached for cleaning through the slot 22 and 24 and open end. The sleeve 24 is readily displaceable over the pin 23 on the shaft |4 so that all parts thereof are accessible. When the bristles 2| are worn, the stem 20 is removable from the spring chuck IQ for renewal of new bristle inserts. The parts are all of such construction and operation that they involve but 5 inexpensive, simple and elementary manufacturing operations. Due to the features of effecting the oscillations byaserpentine slotted sleeve cooperating with a pin on the shaft, the efiort to operate the brush is practically nil since the movement and energy required at any point in the stroke of the sleeve 24 is that required to move the pin 26 and shaft l4 the length of only one of the inclined slots of the serpentine. Consequnetly a spring 3| of very little tension is required which greatly aids the ease of operation by the user.

The pitch of the slots constituting the serpen- The are of the oscillations should not be less than or more than 90. With less than 60 no substantial scrubbing effect is obtained. With more than 90 there may be an undesirable jumping effect of the bristles 2|.

'The'sleeve 24 is provided with an aperture at its rear end for insertion and removal of the pin 26 from the shaft M.

The invention as hereinaboveset forth is embodied in a particular form of construction but may be variously embodied within the scope of the claims hereinafter made.

I claim? 1. A combined tooth brush and masseur ele ment comprising a metallic core carrying a row of transverse rings of bristles each comprising an inner annulus and individual bristles looped around the inner annulus; collars of plastic material intermediate each two of the adjacent rings, said collars being in tight pressing engagement with the rings on opposite sides thereof to hold the annuluses of the rings against rotary movement relative to the core, said collars tightly pressing against the sides of the looped bristles so as to hold individual limbs thereof against others thereof to thereby rigidify them for withwhich the intermediate collars are pressed on only the portion of the bristles adjacent the annulses and. so shaped as to cause the bristles to flare and cause the ends of the bristles of each ring to contact the ends of the bristles of the next 5 adjacent ring.

ROBERT B. DAVIDS. 

